How surf schools run lessons, board hire and waivers

Update, November 2026: We’ve cut our booking fee to 2% + VAT, one of the lowest in the industry, so booking with eola now costs less for you and your customers. Any features below that were part of Pro are now available to all our partners. See our new pricing

Running a surf school means lessons that depend on the tide and the weather, boards and wetsuits in every size, and instructors with the right qualifications. Add walk-ins asking for board hire and families booking a week of lessons, and the admin soon builds up.

eola is a booking system built for activity businesses. Surf schools and watersports centres across the UK use it every day, including Big Green Adventures in Crantock, Cornwall. Here’s how it handles the parts of a surf school’s day that take the most time.

Lessons, courses and surf camps

Set up each lesson, course or camp as an activity, with its own schedule, capacity and price. You choose how to charge:

• Per person, with different prices for adults and children.
• A flat price for a private lesson, however many people come.
• A base price for a set number of people, with an extra charge for each person after that.

A course that runs over several days can be one activity, so a family books the whole week in one go. Each activity can have its own child age, and if the forecast changes you can change the capacity of a single session without touching the rest of the schedule.

Waivers and questionnaires before anyone gets wet

Customers sign your disclaimer and answer your questions online when they book, such as whether they can swim and which wetsuit size they need, so nobody is filling in forms on the beach. Regulars can save a signed disclaimer and reuse their answers.

Every session has a Participants tab listing everyone taking part, with the questionnaire answers you choose to show. Print it for your instructors or the kit room, or download it as a spreadsheet.

On Pro, the AI questionnaire checker reads completed questionnaires and flags the answers your team should look at, such as a health condition or someone who doesn’t meet the requirements you’ve set.

Boards and wetsuits that never double-book

Every lesson uses kit. With automated resource management on Pro, eola keeps track of your boards and wetsuits as bookings come in, so you never sell more places than you have kit for.

Spare kit can earn money too. On Pro you can sell board and wetsuit hire as rentals, and eola checks they don’t clash with your lessons. Walk-ins can book and pay at the front desk by card reader or cash.

Instructors and their qualifications

Each instructor has their own calendar, so you can see who’s free, assign them to lessons and avoid double-booking anyone. Add each instructor’s qualifications, such as coaching and lifeguard awards, and eola lets you know six weeks before one expires. Unlimited instructors, instructor calendars and instructor permissions are included on every plan.

When the surf doesn’t play ball

If the swell is too big or the beach is flat, you can move a session’s bookings to another time from your dashboard, and eola emails the customers to tell them.

Regulars, gifts and reviews

• Memberships: regulars pay monthly or yearly and get member prices automatically. Memberships are included on every plan.
• Class passes: sell a block of sessions to improvers who come back every week. Class passes are part of Pro.
• Vouchers: sell credit vouchers or activity vouchers for a set lesson, so people buy them at Christmas and book in summer. Credit vouchers are included on every plan.
• Reviews: eola can ask every customer for a review after their lesson, which helps new customers choose you.

Bookings day and night, on your website and the marketplace

Most people book in the evening, when you’re in the water or closed. The eola booking widget sits on your own website, so customers can choose a lesson, add their group and pay without leaving your site, including with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

You can also list your lessons on the eola marketplace, where people search for things to do near them.

Results from surf schools on eola

In 2023, Big Green Adventures in Crantock, Cornwall, told us that eola had doubled their online bookings and revenue, with average growth of 36% a year over four years. Before eola the team ran on paper diaries.

“We have very little infrastructure down here, so for awhile we were fully reliant on pen and paper to manage the business. eola not only solved this by having all bookings in one calendar, but also gave our customers a better solution for online bookings,” says Dale Unnuk, owner and head coach at Big Green Surf School.

What it costs

Starter is £0 a month and Pro is £249 a month. Card payments have a 1.7% + 30p processing fee, and customers pay a 5% booking fee at checkout. See our pricing page for what each plan includes, or read more about eola’s booking system for surf schools.

Questions surf schools ask

Does eola work for surf schools and watersports centres?

Yes. Lessons, courses, camps and board hire all run from one calendar and one booking page.

Can customers book a multi-day surf course in one go?

Yes. A course that runs over several days can be one activity, booked and paid for once.

Will eola stop me selling more places than I have boards and wetsuits?

Yes, on Pro. Automated resource management counts your kit as bookings come in.

Can I hire boards and wetsuits to walk-ins?

Yes, on Pro, as rentals. Take payment at the front desk by card reader or cash.

What if we have to cancel because of the conditions?

Move the session’s bookings to another time from your dashboard, and eola emails the customers about the change.

How much does eola cost a surf school?

Starter is £0 a month and Pro is £249 a month. Card payments have a 1.7% + 30p processing fee, and customers pay a 5% booking fee at checkout.

Updated October 2026.

See eola in action

Want to see how this could work for your business? Get in touch with our team.

New to eola?

eola is the booking system made for activity and experience providers. Take bookings and payments online, run lessons, board hire and waivers in one system, and put your activities in front of new customers on the eola marketplace. Book a demo and we’ll show you how eola could work for your business.